Dirty Pair: Mystery of Norlandia (1985) Anime Review

The success of the original Dirty Pair TV series gave Sunrise the idea to create more material of the franchise, particularly for the home video market. This gave us the first Dirty Pair OVA titled Mystery of Norlandia, but it is also known as Affair of Nolandia. It was directed by Masaharu Okuwaki, who had just come out of Cat’s Eye in 1985 and would direct Reporter Blues (1991), The Twins at St. Clare's (1991) and Girl Detective Club (1986). The OVA was written by Kazunori Itô, who is well known for writing several works in the Ghost in the Shell franchise like the 1995 movie, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), Lum (1981-1986), several Patlabor episodes along with the movie and Seijun Suzuki’s Pistol Opera (2001). Itô had also written two episodes of the original TV series, so it made sense to bring him back.

Norlandia is only 57 minutes long and has a somewhat mixed reputation among fans but I consider it a very likable entry in the series.

Kei and Yuri are flying over the planet Ookbar, contracted by a woman named Cony Brighton to protect her daughter, Missnie. However, things get complicated when they witness an odd crash, they have strange visions, their client gets murdered and the girl they are supposed to protect goes missing. 

They are called in by Samara, the chief of security of AJ Development, who doesn't want them in the city because of their reputation. She actually informs them that the missing girl is probably somewhere in the forest of Nolandia. Samara's attitude and actions are very suspicious.

Their ship crashlands in the middle of the forest and the girls inspect the place only to find an empty ship with no child in sight. A weird-looking unicorn appears to them and goes away, leaving the girls with more questions than answers. They also realize the strangeness of the entire ecosystem that surrounds them, they begin to be plagued by nightmares and dreams within dreams, seemingly illusions.

What's causing these abnormalities? Where's the little girl? Who are the villains? The Lovely Angels will have to find out.

While somewhat disjointed in it's plot structure and with an unshakeable feeling that this could have been summarized in a 20 minute block, Mystery of Norlandia is actually a very worthy addition to the Dirty Pair franchise, seemingly trying to stick slightly closer to the original material with allusions, details and changes in design that go back to that vibe. 

Visually, I think it's rather good but not spectacular. The detailed and complex environments and backgrounds work well enough. The animation quality as well as the design and its details increased. All of this elevates the technical elements and the craft enough, but it's never really close to being the best of its breed. It's an OVA after all, it's not a theatrical release. 

Here we have a bit of an average but still captivating plot with a decent mystery to unravel and a very exciting climax. But while the action is mostly reserved for the final stretch, the rest is made up with inventive and original resolutions to the obstacles the  protagonists face, and they solve these issues in very peculiar and idiosyncratic ways that only they could come up with, that's what good writing is all about.

The final battle with Kei fighting a cyborg is a highlight, and even Yuri manages to kick some butt herself during the ending. There's a bit of an edge and more crude or mature aspects seen in this OVA as well, with nudity and blood being more prominent here than in most of the TV show’s episodes.  

I think the themes are refreshing and the hard edge is palpable but it's not as fleshed out as it could have been, the lack of clarity doesn't make me think the abstractions and the somewhat labyrinthic storytelling are put to good use, but rather that it probably needed a more clear link between the girls and the mission in order for the emotional scenes to have more impact. I was never confused but I was intrigued, so the script does it´s job in general terms.  

It’s totally a recommended OVA, you can actually watch it at any time you want since it doesn't really fit into the already loose continuity of the series. If you like strange and creative animation in general then you will most likely enjoy it but don't expect an adrenaline roller coaster.

The Inspector Wears Skirts (1988) Movie Review

Today we take a look at the peculiar mix between Police Academy and a Hong Kong Policewomen movie. The Inspector Wears Skirts, produced by Jackie Chan and directed by Wellson Chin Sing-Wai (Prince of the Sun, Super Lady Cop, Inspector Wears Skirts sequels), the film starred Sibelle Hu (Dreaming the Reality, Lethal Panther, China Heat, Fatal Mission), Kara Ying Hung Wai (My Young Auntie, Clan of Amazons), Regina Kent (Club Girls), Ellen Chan (Naked Soldier), Ann Bridgewater (Thunder Cops II) and Sandra Kwan Yue Ng (She Shoots Straight, Peking Opera Blues).

Cynthia Rothrock is also in this film, but she only has a brief appearance at the beginning of the movie and before the third act (even though she gets top billing), but she is such a highlight you honestly don't mind she is absent for a big chunk of the film.

As it's the case with most other Hong Kong exploitation films, the film has a few alternate titles like Top Squad and Lady Enforcers. 

Madam Wu is in charge of creating a new squad team completely made of women, previously unseen because of discrimination but now needed to aid in special missions. The girls recruited will have to prove themselves and face the harassment of the local Tiger Squad as well as Officer Wu's tough training in order to become the best commando around.

As thrilling and silly as any other Hong Kong martial arts action flick but not as solid as the best. The difference being that it lacks the interesting narrative with more noteworthy subjects and themes movies like Yes, Madam! (1985) have, it's also not as deliriously joyful as a Godfrey Ho film like Angel Enforcers (1989), which actually had a better story and more dazzling fights. Most of its plot is very generic and routine, a typical plotline about a first all female commando, troop or army in the modern world. The comedy isn't a strong point (a lot of repetitive and overdone gags) and the logic is sometimes not very believable. 

Certain elements are also somewhat dated, sometimes delivering some rather misogynistic, homophobic and sexist moments, not to mention the stereotypes and badly written girl talk, while other times it goes fairly deep into the feminist aspects. It may come off as very obsolete and probably naive nowadays because of its less progressive aspects. Although, to be fair, the sexist ideas aren't portrayed to be correct, quite the contrary, and there´s nothing truly hurtful or awful about it´s representation in a general sense but details on top of details ruin it.

Bottom line, you can tell a man wrote it, but it's not a horrible entry in the microgenre of action movies consisting only of a women's commando, even if it's flawed and very confused. Weirdly enough, in this regard I think the Americans had the upper hand with some surprisingly more feminist films like The Doll Squad (1973) and Corman's women in prison movies. I still think Yes Madam! is the champion in this field and the best movie we have reviewed here coming from Hong Kong (aside from Come Drink With Me maybe).

The action sequences are as good as ever, but they are not a complete focus this time around. The training sequences make up for it by being just as gripping with all the clever tests and activities the girls do. There´s some very competent and diligent direction work here. 

The romance subplots, the musical numbers, the dumb jokes and the lack of action really bring down the movie a few pegs. Some might argue that the bad parts are entertainingly bad, but I still say they are unnecessary and too long to be funny. It sometimes comes close to delivering an interesting and poignant thought that could make it great satire (the karate encounters, the nightclub scenes, the goofy and horny military men), but it's so clumsy at the execution that the idea gets lost in the silliness.

It's no secret that the script is probably one of the weakest parts of the film, with the dialogue and the plot being faulty at times, but it's not surprising considering the lack of credits in screenwriter Kam Fu Cheng's career, so it's sort of good he didn't write the following sequels.

While it doesn't work well for some of the runtime and while one could say it wastes the potential hidden in this good concept, it's entertaining enough and delivers the pieces of action you wanna see if you like this type of flick. So ultimately I gotta say that it's not one that would completely disappoint fans of the genre. So it is mildly recommended if you can look past its defects.

The film was a hit in Hong Kong and worldwide because of it's premise, it spawned three more sequels and kickstarted some careers as well.